kakitangan

See also: kaki tangan

Malay

Etymology

Compound of kaki (foot) +‎ tangan (hand), i.e. “hands and feet” - in contrast to kepala, meaning "head" (both in anatomical and social sense) but also "leader".

Pronunciation

Noun

kakitangan (Jawi spelling کاکيتاڠن, plural kakitangan-kakitangan or kakitangan2)

  1. staff, personnel

Usage notes

The word is part of false friends between Standard Malay and Indonesian due to shared etymology. The Indonesian usage can be seen in Indonesian kaki tangan.

Further reading